Phonograph



C. I. ANI) S. I.. IVI. PEAR'SN.

vPHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPI-.11| 1919. 1,419,514. Patented June 13, 1922;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

vTo all w/z om it 72mg/ coacern- UNITED STATES' rafrENr omer.

CARL .L manson-AND siamo i.. M. manson', or c'HIdAG, ILLINOIS.

PHON'OGRAP.

lie it known that we, CARL J. PEA'RSoN,

' and Hunan) L. M. luAusoN, citizens of the United States, residing atChicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Phonographs, of which thefollowing is a specification. l,

This invention relates to sound producing instruments, such asphonographs, graphophones, and the like, and particularly to those whichare used for musical purposes; and it has for its object the improvementofthe tones produced by the instrument. One of the methodsvby which thetone is improved provided by our invention is by the use of means forcleaning the groove of the record as the instrument -is in use, and atthe same time for lubricating the groove in a suitable manner, so astore! duce to a minimum theroughness of the groove and the friction of theneedle therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a horn or trumpet on eachside of the sound box, so that the sound may not only be passeddownwardly into the casing of the phonograph in an ordinary manner, butmay also be passed directly out from ythe. sound box. A further objectofthe invention is to improve the horn by means of its shape, bysuitable shutters, and otherwise, and particularly by the introductionin an improved manner of suitable framework vsupporting properly tunedstrings or wires.l yOther objects of the invention will be apparent froma 'onsidcration of the accompanying drawings and the'followingdescription thereof.

Of the drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical sectonal view of a phonographembodying the features of our invention. F ig. 2 is a fragmcntalelevation of the front portion of the horn. Fig. 3 isa sectional vlewalong the line :1i-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an elevation of la shutterused in connection With the horn. And Fig. 5 is 'a plan View of an.additionaltrumpet which we provide.

rIt is well understood that in the use of sounding instruments where aneedle plays in the' groove of a record, that dust, and shavings fromthe record, and the like,vcause moreI or less harshness of sound whenthe instrument is in use and to eliminate this largely we provide asuitable brush 10 which is fixed to the sound box 11 inanysuitablemanner, for example by means of the spring Specification of LettersPatent. Patented tune 13, 1922.

.Application led September 11, 1919. Serial No. 323,189.

12 connecting the box and brush. The brush ture Which not only slightlylubricates the groove, but also assists 1n causing the loose particlesto adhere to the brush, and thus be removed. Any suitable form of brushmay be used for the purpose. And any suitable liquid may be used; but Weprefer for the purposes an ordinary bristle brush and ordinary sewingmachine oil. By these means much of the harshness of the sound iseliminated. and the tone is thereby materially purified by theelimination of undesirable sounds..

To further improve the tone of the instrument we provide a passageway 16connected at its upper end with the ordinary tapering arm or truinpet17,and opening at lits lower end through a series of shutters 18 intothe horn 20; the shape of the passageway and` horn being substantiallyas is indicated in the drawing. It is to be understood, however, thatthe exact shape of the. passageway and horn, so far as our invention isconcerned, is not to be limited to the shape shown by the drawing. l

. lVithiu the horn 2() we provide a plurality of harps comprising frames2l, which, 1n this instance, are harp shaped, and which are adapted totit snugly in the horn, being slidably supportedv therein by means ofguide pieces 22,-so that the frames may be readily-removed andinterchanged when desired.l Mounted on the frames are suitableladjustable pins 23, upon Wlnch are strung, inla usual mannerfthesounding Wlres or strings 24. the pins being arranged in an ordinarymanner so that thetenslon of the strings may be Varied as desired. Andalso. fixed in a suitable manner, to the frames are...A stiifening bars25, which prevent yielding of the frame as the strings'are tightened. As

the sound waves pass vthrough the horn across the strings the vibrationsthereof set up corresponding vibrations in. the strings, and the tone ofthe instrument 1s materially improvedthereby due partly to the fact thatduce any desired combination of effects, and

that the frames themselvesmay also be interchanged for this purpose.Further, by changin the tension of the strings they may be ytune tovarious keys, and this may be.

conventiently done when the frames are removed from the horn,

By the use of the shutters 18 betweenthe chamber 16 and the horn, theintensity as well as the quality of the sound may be varied, depending'upon the slant and Vthe amount of opening of the shutters and also uponthe particular tune that is being played and the arrangement of thesounding strings. These shutters are manipulated by means of a bar 26,which is connected to each of the shutters 18, the shutters beingpivoted at their ends 27 to the partition 28; so that, as the bar 26 ispulled outwardly or pushed inwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1,the shutters will be closed more or less and the sound waves will bedirected forwardly or backwardly. The position of the shutters beforethe sound passes to the horn 20 thus gives an opportunity for varyingthe quality as well as the quantity of-the sounds; and when desired theshutters may be closed entirely. At the same time the ordinary frontshutter may be used if desired. y

To further'purify the sound, and to otherwise improve the qualitthereof, we provide l a trumpet 30, which is xed to the front side ofthe sound box 11, so that the vibrations of the diaphragm 31 of thesound box is produced between thel two trumpets 17 and 30, and thevibrations of the air pass outwardly through the trumpet 30,substantially the same as those pass inwardly through the trum et 17.The vibrations passing outward v from the trumpet 30 combined with thevibrations passing downwardly from the horn 2O and the el'ect of thecombination is to materially improve the quality of the sound. As thewaves passing into the trumpet 30. do not come from within thel soundbox `11, the harshness produced by the. `box itself is eliminated.

By Athe use of the trumpet 30 in combination with the horn and theStrings described, the intensity of the sound is maintained by thetrumpet, while the qualit is improved by the special arrangement o thehorn and harps, and the pitch may be varied by the tension of thestrings. And the quality` of the sound is further improved by the use ofthe brush 10; so that we are able by our improvements to produce tones.purified by the elimination of harsh or inharmonious sounds, withoutloss in the intensity of the tones,

and at the same time to ,improve the quality' of the sounds.

Although we have described with some particularity the variousstructures which We have provided for purifying the tone of soundinginstruments, it is to be understood that various modifications may bemade by those skilled lin the art without departing from the spirit ofour invention as disclosed by the following claims,

We claim as our invention;

1. In a phonograph a horn, a plurality of frames removably mounted insaid horn, and a series of strings strung upon each of said frames,incombination with a conduit for conveying the sound waves from thesound box of the phonograph to said horn under said strin s whereby thesaid waves travel transverseIy ofsaid strings.

v2. In a phonograph a horn, a plurality of frames removably mounted insaid horn, and a series of strings strung upon each of said frames, incombination with a conduit for conveying the sound waves from the soundbox of the phonograph to said horn, and for directing the waves acrosssaid strings. 3. In a phonograph a horn, a plurality of frames removablymounted in said horn, and a series of strings strung upon each of saidframes2 in combination with a conduit for conveying the sound waves fromAthe sound box of the phonograph to said horn, said conduit having anopening into said horn on the lower side thereof.

4..In a phonograph a horn, a plurality of frames mounted in said horn,and a series of strings strung upon each of said frames, in combinationwith a conduit for conveying the sound waves from the sound box of thephonograph to said horn, said conduit having an opening into said hornon the lower side thereof, andsaid strings extending across saidopening.

5. In a musical phonograph, a casin a sound box mounted on said casing,an e ongated horn mounted substantially horizontally in said casingbeneath said sound box, a wall closing the small end of said horn, saidhorn having a materially elongated opening on its lower side, and aconduit operatively connecting the sound box of said l CARL J. PEARsoN.SIGRID L. M. PEARsoN.

